What people are saying about Boeing's troubled airliner.

Chris Ziegler,The Verge: "(The) decision by the Federal Aviation Administration to ground all U.S.-based Boeing 787s ... is unquestionably an alarming one: It halts the most advanced airliner ever designed from carrying passengers until Boeing can get to the bottom of lithium ion battery fires that have disrupted one flight and left another aircraft smoking at the gate. ... With each new airliner comes new technology ... and the Dreamliner is a particularly deep example — it's the first constructed primarily of composite materials and to replace a number of hydraulic systems with electric ones in order to save weight. Even the best engineers and a decade of testing couldn't suss out every issue that the 787 would face in the real world."

The Boston Globe,editorial: "The spate of incidents — including the battery fire earlier this month on a Japan Airlines plane at Logan (airport) and culminating in an even more serious battery problem on an airborne Dreamliner in Japan — provided valuable warnings. No one was injured, but the sheer number of problems entirely justified the decisions of U.S. and Japanese authorities to ground all 787s immediately."

Peter Cohan, Forbes : "When it comes to the technical problems of the 787, the analogy that comes to mind is the iceberg. After all, 10% of its volume is typically above water and the other 90% is below the surface. Sure, the self-immolating batteries are getting plenty of attention at the moment. ... But the other 90% of the 787's problems may well be below the surface. ... In the past, Boeing has outsourced manufacturing but maintained tight control over design. ... But with the 787 ... Boeing outsourced 60% of the design and manufacture to suppliers. (This) meant that each supplier of, say, the wings, or the batteries that supplied power to the engines or auxiliary systems, would use its own approach to both the design and the manufacture. ... Boeing assumed that its suppliers would share its commitment to quality. ... But this did not happen."

Paul Eisenstein, NBC News: "(The) investigation of faulty lithium ion power packs on the new 787 Dreamliner could ... short-circuit the nascent market for plug-ins, hybrids and other electrified automobiles. ... A variety of (car) manufacturers have begun rolling out new electrified products. ... Two Japanese makers have previously preferred to use less advanced nickel-metal hydrid batteries, officials expressing concerns about potential problems with lithium technology. The Boeing issue underscores such concerns."

Holman Jenkins, The Wall Street Journal : "If Boeing's ... jet must be redesigned to accommodate older-style, lower-density batteries, the additional weight would undermine the plane's big selling point — fuel saving. Even if a redesign isn't ordered, the FAA has yet to approve the Dreamliner's use on bread-and-butter Pacific routes. ... Meanwhile, Airbus' forthcoming jet also plans to use lithium ion batteries. A great deal, then, rests on whether Boeing can now convince the FAA that its problem was a bad batch of batteries."

David Leo, Aspire Aviation: "Perhaps the biggest task for both Boeing and airlines operating the Dreamliner will be restoring public confidence in the aircraft. While it is not to be doubted that Boeing will fix the problem, it may take longer than that to correct the perception, which can influence a traveler's decision where there is a choice of airlines operating different equipment."

In addition to its own editorials, USA TODAY publishes diverse opinions from outside writers, including our Board of Contributors.